With all the racial injustices the world has witnessed over this past year, we feel “Revival” is more relevant than ever and offers a feeling of hope and optimism despite what is happening all around us.

An agency was contacted by a studio on behalf of Universal Music to conceptualise a music video for Gregory Porter’s hit song “Revival” off of his latest album release “All Rise”. Brazilian director Douglas Bernardt was assigned to the project to further develop the studios initial concepts.

Set within the context of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, this film follows the story of a boy who finds his inner strength and confidence through dance. Utilising scale and optical illusions as a symbolic vessel, this film crafts a narrative centered around a tiny boy who slowly grows larger and larger as the film progresses, both physically, and internally. Gregory Porter’s powerful lyrics narrate the film and serve as a motivation for this growth, with the intention of bringing hope and empowerment to our youth.

Our goal was to create a video centered on empowerment and overcoming adversity, all told through the lens of a young black boy’s emotional and physical response to the racial injustices all around him. The film follows his symbolic journey to self discovery and strength through his roots and music.

This film was shot over the course of two days in Los Angeles, on location and on stage, and demanded meticulous planning. The film utilizes both practical and post effects to create the different scales seen in the film. We shot lots of plates and matched the lighting of those environments on greenscreen with the boy to shrink or enlarge him in post. Our set dressing was carefully considered, looking for items that would help obscure the room. We used periscope and probe lenses to further distort the image as well. The film also features an Ames room, an optical illusion set-build where the camera is placed at a particular angle. The subject can walk around the room and change in size depending on their orientation. This film would have not been possible without the guidance of our VFX partners at NASH based in Brazil. Big thank you to them.

The film has now garnered millions of views on YouTube, and has received several nominations and awards at various festivals. We’re honoured the video has been well received, especially since the message of hope is an important one that needs to be heard today.